Intersections
Beginning in the ninth century, Akan-speaking communities of West Africa established a dynamic trade hub that connected populations across the African continent and beyond. To facilitate the exchange of commodities like gold, ivory, salt, and pepper, Akan artisans created brass scoops, scales, and weights like these to measure gold dust. Gold dust was the standardized unit of currency created from the abundant mineral deposits found along what European colonizers would later term the “Gold Coast.”
Intersections
Beginning in the ninth century, Akan-speaking communities of West Africa established a dynamic trade hub that connected populations across the African continent and beyond. To facilitate the exchange of commodities like gold, ivory, salt, and pepper, Akan artisans created brass scoops, scales, and weights like these to measure gold dust. Gold dust was the standardized unit of currency created from the abundant mineral deposits found along what European colonizers would later term the “Gold Coast.”
Race, Gender, and the "Decorative" in 20th-Century African Art: Reimagining Boundaries
Trade connected the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt to the Akan confederation in Ghana, as well as many locations in-between. Along with Islamic beliefs, traders exchanged materials such as brass and silk for gold dust, textiles, and other goods. Asante kings, believing in the sacred power of Islamic prayer and Qur’anic script, collected items such as Mamluk ablutions vessels—containers holding water for ritual cleansing before prayer—for use in Asante traditional religion. Akan artists drew inspiration from the inscriptions and motifs of Islamic trade goods, as well as Akan proverbs, to create the small geometric and figural weights used to measure gold dust. The weights served an important commercial function and were also highly valued for their imported brass material and demonstration of artistry. Similarly linked to trade, men’s embroidery, exemplified on caps worn by Muslim men throughout West Africa, indicates piety and prestige.
Race, Gender, and the "Decorative" in 20th-Century African Art: Reimagining Boundaries
Trade connected the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt to the Akan confederation in Ghana, as well as many locations in-between. Along with Islamic beliefs, traders exchanged materials such as brass and silk for gold dust, textiles, and other goods. Asante kings, believing in the sacred power of Islamic prayer and Qur’anic script, collected items such as Mamluk ablutions vessels—containers holding water for ritual cleansing before prayer—for use in Asante traditional religion. Akan artists drew inspiration from the inscriptions and motifs of Islamic trade goods, as well as Akan proverbs, to create the small geometric and figural weights used to measure gold dust. The weights served an important commercial function and were also highly valued for their imported brass material and demonstration of artistry. Similarly linked to trade, men’s embroidery, exemplified on caps worn by Muslim men throughout West Africa, indicates piety and prestige.
Archive label for Palmer collection exhibit, date unknown:
Called "gold weights", these small weights were cast of brass and used to weight gold dust; dust was placed on pan of the scale with a spoon, and weights were placed on the other pan until balanced. Gold weights were cast into a great variety of forms: geometric, zoomorphic, anthropomorphic, and genre scenes. Their symbolism or actual depictions illustrated proverbs, represented various gods, showed scenes and activities from daily life, and even told jokes, both on- and off-color.
